Eugene newlyweds fall victim to wedding gift thief

Wednesday

Janell and Kord Evenson are among four couples whose Junction City weddings were targeted last weekend

It was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives.

But for one Eugene couple, their wedding day turned sour when an uninvited and unknown guest showed up to the celebration and stole their gifts.

Janell and Kord Evenson were married Saturday on private family property on River Road in Junction City with 260 close friends and family. The ceremony began at 5 p.m. and was followed by a reception.

The couple left their wedding — all smiles — and headed for their mini-honeymoon on the Oregon Coast, Kord Evenson said. A family member was in charge of picking up the gifts from their gift table, and left them waiting at home for the newlywed couple.

But when they returned, only 40 gifts were waiting for them, and there were almost no cards from the antique box Evenson had laid out to collect them.

"We didn't really put it together until we started to question our friends and family," Janell Evenson said. "We were not like, 'Hey, did you leave us anything?' But it was odd there weren't any cards. We did ask for a count of how many things were missing."

Janell Evenson said she posted a message on Facebook to her guests, asking them to message her discreetly and tell her if they had left a card in the box. About 40 people said they had — and all of their cards were missing. Those cards, she said, contained checks, cash and gift cards, totaling an estimated $2,500.

"I can't believe it. It's just really hard to believe that somebody would do something like this to anybody. It's devastating," Janell Evenson said. "It has nothing to do with the gifts or the money. It has to do with the fact that someone feels it's OK to come and do something like this; that it's OK to do that. I can't process it. I can't believe it. I just hope they catch him, so he can't do it again."

According to Lane County sheriff's Sgt. Carrie Carver, the Evensons were one of three couples whose weddings were hit by a thief Saturday. All three were in Junction City, Carver said. Additionally, Carver said another Junction City wedding was targeted July 15.

Among the victims were a couple married Saturday at Shadow Hills Country Club on the same day and on the same road as the Evensons' wedding.

"We are aware of the issue now and definitely doing everything we can to prevent it from happening in the future," said Stacy Sullivan, Shadow Hills' catering sales manager.

The Evensons haven't lost hope of finding who is responsible. By happenstance, a photo may have captured the culprit's image.

With so many guests, Janell Evenson said, her mother took photos on her cellphone to make sure she remembered everyone who was there. Luckily, Janell Evenson said, one of the photos captured an unfamiliar face that the Evensons now believe is responsible for the theft.

"In the picture, he's by the card table. He's carrying a bag which we did not receive. He's drinking something out of a can, we believe it's a beer, that we did not serve," Janell Evenson said. "We don't know him. We have no idea who this guy is."

That photo is being circulated on Facebook throughout the community, and others have come forward with similar stories. The Register-Guard is not publishing the photo because the sheriff's office has not said whether the man is a suspect.

"Please Share!" Evenson wedding guest Susan Pingelton wrote in a public post on Facebook with a photo of the wedding crasher. "This is the SOB that took the cards and money."

"Janell found a single rose where the cards were supposed to be," Pingelton's post continues. "Unfortunately I think it was easy pickings for him during the ceremony because no one was around and it was so blocked off!"

The Evensons have filed a report with the Lane County Sheriff's Office. Carver said she had not heard of a string of thefts like this before in which someone has blended in at formal events to steal gifts, gift cards and cash.

"Weddings are joyful events where people should be celebrating and should not have to worry about someone stealing from them," Carver said. "We are saddened that someone has taken advantage of another person’s big day by taking what is not theirs, and we are hopeful to be able to find the person responsible for these thefts."

She advised people to keep valuables and cash in a secured place. She also asked anyone with information to call the sheriff's office at 541-682-4141.

"It's disheartening," Kord Evenson said. "I hope this doesn't happen to anybody else and we catch the guy. It's really a hit to the gut."

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